Beck, Sharpton Showdown On MLK March Anniversary

African-American leaders denounced TV and radio pundit Glenn Beck’s Tea Party rally next month that will occur on the same date and at the same spot where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech nearly 50 years ago.

And as Beck hosts his “Restoring Honor” event Aug. 28th at the Lincoln Memorial, civil rights organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Urban League and the National Action Network, will hold events to commemorate King’s legacy and the March on Washington.

“It is just an outright attempt to flip the imagery of Dr. King and the imagery of that march, and distort it for some opposite purposes,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, which is hosting the “Reclaim the Dream” rally in Washington, D.C. at the same time as Beck’s “Restoring Honor” event. “They’re not talking about celebrating Dr. King, they’re talking about circumventing him and distorting him.”

But some African-American Tea Party members said there was nothing wrong with Beck holding his “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington.